The Frantic Four
by Land Father
Summary: Four warriors. Four sacred objects. One prophecy binding them together. An epic journey unites four strangers to combat the greatest army that the World of Trophies has ever seen.
1. A LongExpected Race

Hey, guys. Land Father is back with another story. This is an epic tale that I've wanted to write since playing the Subspace Emissary. This will truly be my greatest story, and I shall enjoy every word of it. Just a reminder, any characters are portrayed the way I want them too. This story is not based on the Subspace Emissary, so any characters' roles in that story don't apply here. This takes place in the World of Trophies, and I highly suggest looking at a map of it so as to keep track of where everything is, as it helped me write this. Enjoy.

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**A Long-Expected Race**

The World of Trophies, a large continent that was created long ago, is the home to all beings. A land as diverse as the inhabitants that it shelters, it was once the target for the greatest evil that it had ever known. The evil spread throughout the land, claiming many victims that dared stand in its way. Its influence was wide and its reach was far, as it had nearly succeeded in taking over the entire land. However, out of the shadows came two brave warriors who stood up to this evil. They traveled across the land, eliminating the influence that the evil had spread. Eventually, the two warriors brought the conflict to their hideout, where a great battle was fought against their leader. The warriors succeeded in defeating the leader, putting an end to the evil that terrorized the land. With the land free, they departed and headed their separate ways, visiting each other from time to time. However, this all happened a century ago...

During the warriors' campaign to eliminate the evil, a popular tourist spot, known as the Zoo, was a target of the evil's influence. It was destroyed, turning it into a forsaken wasteland. For many subsequent years, it was known only as the Ruined Zoo. However, two decades before the current time, a group of people gathered at the isolated site and made plans to convert it into a metropolis. As construction commenced, more and more people showed up to help build the city. It took a few years, but their efforts paid off, as the city was grand and spectacular. When the time came to name this great city, the citizens all agreed to call it, "Port Town".

Port Town thrived in population and culture, as it attracted the attention of many. The people, however, wanted the city to stand out more, to have its own signature feature that would increase tourism. They decided to build a giant race track so as to have high speed races upon it. The track was spectacular and reached high into the sky. The track was then named, "Port Town Aero Dive". Port Town now had something to be proud of, and the city further flourished as people flooded in to see these intense, high speed races. Many names were carved into stone as the greatest racers of all time, and the fans kept on wanting more.

January 26, the current day, was the day of the championship race. Thirty racers, who climbed the ranks through many preliminary races, would be competing to see who could become the champion. For these races, the track was usually souped up to make it more menacing. Turns were sharper, speed was increased, and the track became slightly thinner to allow less room for cars, resulting in more action.

It was 10:00 in the morning, meaning there was still two hours left until the race. A man was sitting in the local diner, sitting at a booth and sipping a cup of coffee. The rays of sunlight shining through the window made his purple suit gleam. His knee-high yellow boots complimented the suit nicely. A large metal plate rested on his right shoulder for who-knows-why. Perhaps the most mysterious thing about him, though, was his identity. His red helmet obscured his face, preventing anyone from finding out the man lying underneath. He has a name that he goes by, but it is widely disputed in the populace over whether or not it is his real name. Despite the dispute, he refuses to disclose which side is correct, as he seems to take enjoyment from the situation.

A young waiter made his way over to the man's table. "So, sir, was everything to your liking?" he asked, sounding as if he wanted some personal praise from the man.

"Everything was fine," said the man, a smile arriving on his face. "I'll take the check."

"Very good, sir," replied the waiter. He walked away from the table into the back room. He soon came back bearing the check in his hands. He placed the check on the man's table. "Have a good day, sir."

The man stood up, placed his right hand on his hip, and gave a salute with his left hand. "Please, call me Captain Falcon."

"Of course, Captain Falcon," said the waiter, giving a slight bow. "Have a nice day." He quickly walked away and disappeared in the back room.

Captain Falcon placed his money, plus tip, on the table and departed from the diner. The sunlight greeted the half of his face that wasn't covered, as that was the only part of his body that wasn't covered in clothing. Some people wondered how he could wear such heavy clothing in this weather, but he always shrugged it off. Falcon walked down the street, trying to figure out how he could waste two hours until the big race. As he was walking, a man across the street shouted at him, "Hey, Captain Falcon! Show me ya moves!" Falcon, recognizing his catchphrase, gave a wave to the man before continuing on his way.

Captain Falcon arrived, ten minutes later, at his apartment room. He decided he would take a nap, even though he did just wake up a couple of hours ago. He went to his bedroom and laid down, fully clothed, on his bed, drifting to sleep.

It was now 11:40, meaning there was twenty minutes remaining until the start of the championship race. Falcon was in the racer's locker room, preparing himself along with the other racers.

"Hey, Falcon, you'd better watch yourself," said one racer.

"I hope you'll watch me as well," said Falcon, smiling, "as I'm gonna be in front of you the whole time."

"Oh, those are fighting words," said the racer.

"Actually, those are racing words," said Falcon, walking away from the racer. He was quite pleased with himself on how he handled that.

"I'm gonna get that guy," said the racer to himself.

It was almost noon, the time had almost come. The stadium seats were full, and the fans were screaming their heads off, wanting the race to start. Nothing could be heard but the uproar that was emanating from these fans. The racetrack was towering over the stadium, with many complicated twists, turns, loops, and jumps. It may have been menacing, but the thirty racers were ready to take it on, the anticipation welling through them about which one of them will become the champion. Giant monitors surrounded the stadium, with hidden cameras placed around the track to capture all the action. After all, the track went so high that the audience won't be able to see everything simply by looking at it.

The loudspeakers came on throughout the stadium. The announcer's voice started booming. "Alright, everyone, it's time for the 12th Annual F-Zero Grand Prix Championship Race!" The audience's cheers grew even louder. "Thirty spectacular racers ascended the ranks to compete on this day. The dangerous track of Port Town Aero Dive has been transformed into an even more deadly track. The racers will have to have their reflexes at a maximum to even think about claiming the championship title." The audience was at the edge of their seats at this point. "And now, here they are, the F-Zero racers!"

The audience boomed as the racers walked out onto the track, their cars already waiting for them at the starting line. The starting line was easily visible by the audience, but the track quickly made turns, drops, and lifts that would easily lose them. Captain Falcon approached his trusty Blue Falcon, numbered 07. He opened the hatch of the vehicle and hopped inside. He always felt the most comfortable when inside his vehicle. He knew it like the back of his hand, giving him a big advantage, as some other racers didn't know _everything_ about their car. He revved up the engine, feeling the car start to rumble around him. He placed his hands on the steering wheel, ready to go the moment they were allowed.

"Alright racers, start your engines!" shouted the announcer. Falcon was already ahead of him. Every other racer revved up their car, roaring to go. The audience was anxious as each car was at the starting line, slightly bobbing up and down due to the engine. "Ready, set, GO!"

The racers shot forward at super high speed. They went so fast that the audience could no longer see them after a second, now having to resort to the giant monitors surrounding the stadium. Falcon was not in the lead, but from what he could tell, he was probably in fourth or fifth place, as there were a few cars ahead of him. Behind him were the two dozen or so trailing cars. One car rammed him from behind, and Falcon almost crashed into a wall, but this was to be expected, and his fast reflexes allowed him to maneuver away from the wall in time. The cars made many descending jumps, going up and down, and Falcon couldn't help but feel a little queasy, despite the fact that he had done this many times. He was able to quickly recover when the jumps ended, and continued his way down the track.

Falcon was starting to gain on the few cars in front of him. He came up upon the fourth place driver and rammed the side of his purple car. It didn't take him out, but it stalled him just long enough for Falcon to pass him, taking fourth place. The cars in front of him were duking it out, as they were so close to each other that they kept alternating between first, second, and third. Falcon, taking advantage of their situation, sped up behind the car that was currently in third, and rammed him from behind. The driver, taken by surprise, drifted off to the side where he tapped the edge of the track, leaving Falcon to claim third. The second place driver was not having it, and he rammed right into Falcon's side, making him almost shadow the previous racer's movements. Falcon, however, didn't smack into the wall, and pulled himself together to continue forward, but not before another racer could pass him, putting him back in fourth. Falcon, feeling angry, sped forward, determined to catch up.

In the rear, the two dozen racers were countlessly climbing ahead of each other. However, one racer decided to pull a crazy maneuver: he pulled in front of the leader of the two dozen racers and slowed down a bit, making that racer crash right into him. They both started spinning out, ramming into other cars, thereby making them spin out, causing a chain reaction. About a dozen cars spun out and slammed into the rail, most likely eliminating them, as their cars were badly damaged.

Captain Falcon, still in fourth, realized that he was getting further and further away from the three cars ahead of him. Wondering what was going on, he checked his damage meter, and he was shocked to see that there had been some damage to his boosters. It must have been when that driver rammed him from behind. Though his car currently wasn't slow, it also wasn't fast enough to catch up. A car from behind him passed him, putting him in fifth, and Falcon knew that there was nothing he could do. Knowing the track like the back of his hand, he knew the finish line was coming up in a few seconds. Sadly accepting the fact that he had not won, he crossed the finish line, coming in fifth place.

It was a few minutes later, as the rest of the cars had to cross the finish line, and then all the racers had to safely get out of their cars and get off the track. About less than half of the racers didn't finish the race. All the racers were now in the middle of the stadium, the audience roaring with excitement. This year's championship race had been one of the best races of all time. A Formula One podium stood at the dead center of the stadium, currently empty, waiting for the top three racers to occupy it. The announcer came bounding to the center of the stadium, standing next to the podium. The audience fell silent.

"Well, what a spectacular race that was!" he shouted into his microphone, the speakers around the stadium booming with his voice. "Who agrees with me?!" The audience roared, and then quieted down again. "Alright, now it's time to announce the first, second, and third place winners!" The audience roared again, then quieted down. "In third place, we have Pico!" The audience screamed as the green alien-like being took his place on the third place podium. He was then awarded a bronze trophy. "And, in second place, we have Samurai Goroh!" The audience boomed even louder as the bulky, angry looking man took his place on the second place podium. He was awarded with a silver trophy. "And now, in first place," the audience was on the edge of their seats, "the champion of the 12th Annual F-Zero Grand Prix, Dr. Stewart!!" The audience roared its loudest as the man clad in a yellow jumpsuit took his place on the first place podium. He was given a gold trophy and a bag full of prize money. As the ceremony continued on, Falcon wanted to get out of there more and more.

Falcon was now back at the local diner, sitting at a booth and drinking some more coffee. He was hoping that he was still asleep, and that the coffee would wake him up, finding out that it was still ten in the morning and the race hadn't yet been held. He just couldn't accept that he had gotten fifth place. His thoughts were interrupted, however, when the same young waiter came up to his table.

"Is everything alright, Mr. Falcon?" he asked.

"Yeah, yeah, everything's fine," Falcon replied, clearly with no optimism in his voice.

"Don't worry about it," said the waiter. "I thought you did a great job."

"Thanks, kiddo, but that won't change anything," said Falcon, slumping a little.

"Well, at least you stuck to your phrase during the race," said the waiter. He then imitated Falcon's signature pose and said, "You showed me ya moves."

Falcon, amused, gave a little chuckle at the waiter's antics. "I like you, kid. Here's a little something just for you." He slipped the waiter a five dollar bill. "It's yours."

The waiter was taken aback by the generous offer. "T-thank you, Mr. Falcon, sir." He quickly made his way to wait on another table.

Falcon continued to rest at the booth and drink his coffee. Just then, the front door slammed open, and everyone averted their gaze towards it. Falcon looked at it, but didn't see anyone there. His eyes then happened to look downward, and he saw a tiny figure, about two feet tall, standing there at the entrance. His body was blue and round, with two short arms protruding from the sides of it. On his hands were a pair of white gloves. He had only feet, no legs, that were covered in purple armored boots. The black, metallic armor on his shoulders gleamed in the sunlight. The cape that he was wearing was streaming as the wind blew. A sheathe lay at the right side of his waist, presumably holding a sword. The most striking feature about him, though, was his round, silver mask obscuring his face. The only thing the mask wasn't covering were his piercing yellow eyes, eyes that seemed as if they could read someone's mind. As Falcon looked at this figure, he was reminded of himself in that his identity was completely hidden. The figure turned his gaze to Falcon, and stared at him as if trying to confirm something. He made his way over to his booth, and with a deep voice, he said,

"Are you Captain Falcon?"

Falcon just looked at him, wondering whether he should respond or not. Quite frankly, he was surprised that he asked that, as everyone in the city knew who he was. The figure's gaze was starting to creep him out, so he said, "Yes, I am."

The figure's tone of voice suddenly changed from serious to alarmed with this confirmation, and he quickly said, "Hurry, you must come with me! You're in grave danger!"

"Huh?" said Falcon.

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What is this danger that this figure talks about? All that and more will be revealed in time. By the way, even though this takes place in the World of Trophies, no one is actually a trophy. They are all real beings. I only call it the World of Trophies because there is no other name for it. Well, I'm out for now.


	2. The Mysterious Ones

Hello, again. A few hours after I posted the first chapter, I noticed that it displayed the two primary character names at the top of the page. This was very inconvenient, as it ruined the feel of the first chapter, so I immediately edited it so that there weren't any primary characters, and thus the names were gone. And with that, on with the story!

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**The Mysterious Ones**

It was a very stressful day for Captain Falcon. First, he comes in fifth place in the F-Zero Grand Prix, then he has to watch as three superior racers claim their prizes in front of him, and now he's being confronted by this strange figure. The figure looked right at Falcon's face, his eyes desperate for a response from the racer. Falcon, finally feeling able to speak, decided to advance the predicament.

"What do you mean, 'I'm in grave danger?'" he asked, casually sipping his cup of coffee as if nothing was happening.

"It means exactly what it means!" said the figure. "You must come with me!"

Everyone, including the young waiter, was staring at the scene commencing in front of them. They looked really puzzled, wondering why Captain Falcon would be in any danger. They figured Dr. Stewart, the winner of the Grand Prix, would be the only one in any danger, as he won a giant bag of money. Still, they continued to gaze at the scene, confused at what was happening, but at the same time curious about how it would unfold, like a television drama.

"Why would I be in danger?" asked Falcon.

"There's no time to explain," said the figure. "We have to get out of here, now!" He grabbed Falcon's arm and started to tug.

Falcon resisted the tugging and tried to pry the figure's hand off of him. "Hey, take your hands off me!"

"Unhand him!" shouted a customer.

"Yeah, what did he ever do to you?" said another customer.

"Don't mess with Captain Falcon, otherwise he'll show you his moves!" shouted another customer.

"Yeah, show him your moves, C. Falc!" shouted another customer, presumably in his teenage years.

"We don't have time for this," said the figure, his eyes giving an angry expression. "We must leave, now."

"Explain to me what you're after," said Falcon, prying his arm out of his hand, "and I'll consider it." Falcon, a realization dawning upon him, said, "Wait a minute, do you want my autograph, but are embarrassed to accept it in person?" He said it with a somewhat cute tone, as if talking to a preteen.

"NO!!" the figure shouted. "I just need you to come with me!!"

Before Falcon could respond, their conversation was interrupted by what sounded like blood curdling screams coming from the city streets. The screams were faint, but easily hearable. Falcon suddenly dropped his cup of coffee on the table, making it spill all over, and immediately shifted in his seat to face the large windows of the diner.

"What was that?!" he asked, the shock clearly in his voice.

"Oh no, it's started," said the figure. "We have to get out of here, now!" The figure resumed tugging on his arm, and Falcon immediately complied.

"Hold on a second," said Falcon, "I want to see what that was." He wrenched his arm away from the figure, stood up, and headed for the front door. He headed outside, the figure right behind him, leaving the startled customers inside.

Shock smacked Falcon right in the face. He couldn't believe his eyes; the figure simply looked on without surprise. People were running all over the streets in panic. Hands were flailing wildly, voices were screaming at the top of their lungs, and people were hopping into their cars and driving wildly away. Anyone who didn't have a car nearby was charging into the closest building they could find. Trying to find the source, Falcon browsed down the ends of the streets that he could see. He didn't see anything out of the ordinary, so he wondered what the commotion was all about.

"This is exactly what I thought would happen," said the figure, looking at Falcon. His hand was clenched tightly around the hilt of his sword.

"What's everyone running from?" asked Falcon, his tone considerably more easy going, as he didn't see anything bad happening.

"That," said the figure. He pointed down the street right in front of them, and Falcon's jaw dropped.

All the way down the long street, Falcon could faintly make out a large mass of people walking up the street. They were very far away, so he couldn't see who they were, but one thing was for sure: everyone seemed to be running from that direction, the panic and the screams originating from that direction. The figure pointed down the streets to their left and right, and Falcon noticed the same sight. A mass of soldiers was advancing, quite slowly, up the streets.

"We have to go," said the figure, "now!!"

"What's going on?" asked Falcon in alarm. "Who are they?"

"I'll explain everything later," said the figure, "but right now we have to leave this city."

"What?!" shouted Falcon. "I can't leave now! What about all the people that are being attacked?! I can't just leave them!"

"You'll suffer the same fate as those people if you confront them. There's nothing you can do. We have to leave."

"But, but-"

"Let's go!" shouted the figure. He quickly grabbed Falcon's arm and brought him to an alley next to the diner. "We'll go through here, come on!"

Falcon, freeing his arm yet again, decided to follow the figure down the alley. It was somewhat dark and smelly, as there were trash cans that needed to be emptied. Despite the nastiness of the alley, Falcon noticed a strange site ahead of him. The figure that he was following, whom he expected to be running, was instead gliding a few inches off the ground. What was a cape was now replaced with a pair of wings that were spread out to either side. Falcon couldn't help but wonder what he had gotten himself into, as the city was now under attack and he was following a complete stranger that was indeed, for lack of a better word, strange.

They exited the other end of the alley and were bathed in sunlight yet again. The new streets that were on either side of them were the same: people were fleeing and screaming, and the clump of soldiers were advancing around the streets, attacking anyone they could. Falcon couldn't hide the terror in his face, as he had never been in a life-or-death situation before. Though the F-Zero races were dangerous, he was so skilled that he never showed any fear. Now, however, he didn't know what to do in order to combat this new fear. The figure noticed his expression.

"Keep it together, man! There is no time to panic! We have to find a way out of here!"

"Who are you?!" shouted Falcon.

"I told you, I'll explain everything when we flee the city," said the figure. "You are very familiar with this city, correct? Guide us out of here."

"What?!" said Falcon, getting angry. "I may know this city very well, but I'm only good at using streets that aren't inhabited by deadly, invading...things!"

"Well, then, we'll just have to charge our way out," the figure replied, calmly.

"No way! We'll be killed! You have wings, right? Why don't you use those to fly us out of here?"

"I may have wings, but I can't fly forever. There's no way I'll have enough energy to escape the borders of this city by flying, especially if I'm carrying you."

Because of their arguing, they didn't notice the army of invaders getting closer and closer to them. To their right, one of the invaders pointed towards them, indicating the others to attack them. They broke from their walk and started to run, getting closer and closer. Falcon grabbed the figure and ran back into the alley to the other side, where the front of the diner was. He noticed that there was no one in it, and he only wondered what happened to them. He placed the figure on the ground.

"Crud, what'll we do now?" asked Falcon, panicking.

"Look out!" shouted the figure. In a swift motion, he pushed Falcon out of the way of the alley clearing, took out his sword, and slashed the invader that emerged. It fell to the ground, apparently dead.

Falcon was able to get a closer look at the invader. He had never seen anything like it before. Its body was a really dark shade of blue, it wore a green suit and a green hat-like object, as well as brown gloves and boots. Its eyes were wide open, not moving, as it was dead. Laying in its motionless hand was a type of sword. It wasn't a typical sword made of a particular metal, but a sword that seemed to be made of pure energy. The blade glowed green as it lay on the ground.

"What is that thing?" asked Falcon, not wanting to touch it.

"A Primid," said the figure. "They are very dangerous soldiers."

"Are they the people attacking this city?" asked Falcon.

"Yes," said the figure. "There's a whole army of them rampaging through this place. We must escape this city!"

Falcon, feeling he couldn't fight him anymore, gave up. "Fine, fine, we'll get out of here, but before we do that, at least tell me your name."

"It's Meta Knight. Nice to meet you, now let's go!"

Suddenly, an idea slammed right into Falcon's head. He snapped his fingers upon the realization. "Of course! I know how we can get out of here!" Using his right index finger, he started tapping the back of his left hand. Meta Knight could hear beeps emanating from the glove, as if buttons were being pressed. Then, Falcon's visor started blinking green, as if confirming something. Then, at the top of his lungs, he shouted, "COME ON, BLUE FALCON!!"

Zipping around corners, tearing through the streets, toppling over Primids, the Blue Falcon zoomed right in front of Falcon. He opened the hatch and jumped in. Meta Knight, impressed by the contraptions speed, jumped on top of it, as he couldn't fit inside with Falcon.

"Hang on tight!" came Falcon's voice from the cockpit. With that, Meta Knight grabbed on tight to the Blue Falcon's left wing. Falcon started the engine, the car now bobbing up and down slightly, and he zoomed off down the street, right into the army of Primids. Meta Knight, miraculously able to hang on for dear life, looked at the various Primids. He noticed something about them: they were all either carrying a beam sword or a super scope.

"Sword Primids and Scope Primids!" he shouted as the Primids were being run over. "That means _he's_ here." He looked behind him, and noticed that Primids were trying their hardest to keep up with the car, but they were just too slow.

"We'll be out of here in no time," came Falcon's voice. "Just hold on a little longer, we're almost there."

They kept zooming down the streets, turning various corners, and observing, helplessly, all the people that were under attack by the Primids. Swords were swinging, scopes were blasting, buildings were toppling over; it was a horrible sight. Falcon, trying as hard as he could to keep himself focused, continued his trek to the edge of the city, but he was so used to knocking over Primids at this point that he didn't even comprehend the object that lied directly ahead of him.

"Oi, watch out!" shouted Meta Knight. "Don't hit it!"

"Huh?" asked Falcon. He noticed that he was about to crash right into a giant structure in the middle of the road. He didn't know what it was, but he had no time to figure it out, as he was about to slam right into it. The Blue Falcon was going too fast to slow down, so Falcon, sadly, opened the cockpit and leaped out. Meta Knight jumped off the Blue Falcon and grabbed Falcon before he landed; since the car was going so fast, the landing would have surely killed him.

Meta Knight safely landed on the ground and put down Falcon. Falcon couldn't believe his eyes. His Blue Falcon, his pride and joy, the object that defined his racing abilities, was lying in pieces, scattered across the street. Falcon felt like part of his soul shattered as he could do nothing but look at the destroyed vehicle.

"No, no, no!" said Meta Knight in alarm. "I was hoping you weren't here."

Falcon, taking his eyes off the Blue Falcon, looked up at the giant structure that destroyed his car, the object that cast a shadow down the road, the thing that Meta Knight was talking to. He was instantly filled with terror the moment he took it in. What he thought was a stationary structure that was randomly placed in the street, was actually a giant robot-like structure. Propped up on a single set of gold-rimmed wheels were two monstrous bodies, one facing towards them, the other facing the opposite direction. The body that was facing them was blue and black, its head was short and round. Its thin upper arms came out of magnet-shaped shoulders, and its forearms were comparatively bulky, with two giant blades in place of its hands. A giant blue blade rested atop its stout head, gleaming in the sunlight.

"Your hopes are crushed," said the blue being in a deep, monstrous voice.

"What the hell are you?!" shouted Falcon at the monster.

Upon these words, it immediately spun around, the blue body now facing away from them, and its pink body now facing them. The pink body had similar build to the blue one, but instead of having blades for hands, it instead had what looked like two giant blasters. Instead of a blade on its head, there was a towering cannon.

"You dare ask us our name?" said the pink side with the same monstrous voice.

"Sword and Scope Primids," said Meta Knight, "could only be led by you, Duon."

"I have no business with you, Meta Knight," said Pink Duon. "I desire the being next to you, _The_ _Bird of Yellow Warmth."_

"Wait, wha?" asked Falcon. He couldn't comprehend anything that was happening at this point. The city was invaded by strange creatures, he's visited by some flying dude, and now they're confronting a giant robot. What was going on?

"Falcon, we have to get out of here, now!" said Meta Knight. He grabbed Falcon's arm and charged down a nearby street, getting as far away from Duon as possible. "Aha, this looks like the edge of the city."

Indeed, it was the edge of the city. The pavement ended, the buildings ended, and beyond was nothing but grass and dirt. Meta Knight, finally able to leave this place, charged past the city limits, Falcon's arm still firmly grasped within his hand. Falcon ran along with him, as he knew that fighting Meta Knight would be pointless. As they ran further and further away from the city, Falcon turned around to face it, seeing the buildings toppling over, the screams becoming fainter and fainter, and couldn't help but shed a tear as the place he called home fell to the ground.

* * *

Well, there you go. I hope you didn't have too much trouble following the action. I tried writing it as best as I can, but I understand it can get hard to keep track of where things are. Personally, my favorite part of this chapter was the introduction of Duon.


	3. Fools of the Forest

This story gets more and more fun to write every chapter. We still have a long way to go, so keep enjoying.

* * *

**Fools of the Forest**

Captain Falcon and Meta Knight were running across the grassy field on the outskirts of Port Town. The city was being invaded by mysterious creatures known as Primids, and they were rampaging through the streets, destroying everything. Falcon could only look back as buildings were collapsing in the distance. Dust was rising from the city, and Falcon could do nothing about it. The blood curdling screams had disappeared, but he didn't know if it was because they were too far away to hear them, or because there was no one left to scream. Seeing him stop, Meta Knight urged him to keep running, to which Falcon did. They ran as fast as they could through the grassland, not knowing where they were going, but it didn't matter as long as they were away from Port Town.

"Hey, you said your name was Meta Knight, right?" asked Falcon.

"Yes," said Meta Knight, he himself gliding a few inches off the ground, his wings spread apart.

"Who were those guys?"

"Now is not the time to explain," said Meta Knight.

"Stop saying that!" shouted Falcon as he came to a halt, refusing to run anymore. "You've been saying that since the start! I want answers NOW!!"

Meta Knight stopped in his tracks and turned around to face Falcon. "Right now, we're heading west towards a large forest. We can lose them there, and I promise I'll explain everything once we get there."

Falcon, deciding to accept this, said nothing and continued running forward. Meta Knight following him confirmed that he was heading in the right direction.

They continued to run for the next day, stopping only to catch their breath. They ran through the night, not breaking for any food, water, or sleep. They didn't dare stop incase the invaders caught up to them. This was a huge toll on Falcon, who would usually use his Blue Falcon for this kind of transport, not his legs. They would sometimes find large rock formations that they took shelter under, only to abandon them a few minutes later.

A little more than a day and a half since they left Port Town, they saw in the distance a large mass of trees. Since they left Port Town, all they saw was a flat field of green, but the forest trees allowed that green to ascend into the air. The forest stretched for miles, and the trees and thick leaves blocked all interior view from the outside world. At last, they had approached the perimeter of the forest, halting to take a breath of fresh air.

"Please tell me this is the forest you were talking about," said Falcon, taking huge gulps of air.

"Why are you breathing so hard?" asked Meta Knight, he himself taking in mild breaths, and staring at Falcon as if he was some alien life form.

"I'm out of breath!" he shouted. "In case you haven't noticed, I've been using my _feet._ We all don't have wings to help us."

"Hey, I have to use energy to flap these wings," said Meta Knight. "Don't talk like you're the only victim."

"This whole trip had better be worth traveling with you."

"Whatever, let's go."

Meta Knight casually strolled into the forest as if he'd been there many times. Falcon quickly, but cautiously, followed him. The forest was, naturally, dark. The leaves had blocked out most sunlight, with little rays here and there illuminating minute spots on the ground. Falcon, being tall, kept getting smacked in the face by various branches. Meta Knight, being short, simply walked under all of them. Falcon was getting increasingly annoyed at Meta Knight by the moment, but his thoughts were interrupted when his stomach started grumbling.

"Hungry, are we?" said Meta Knight, stopping in his tracks.

"A little," said Falcon, not wanting to sound weak. "I guess I could go for some food."

"Oh..." started Meta Knight, contemplating. "Well, I was going to stop soon and tell you everything that's going on, but I suppose you won't be able to pay attention unless you eat something."

"Do you not eat?" asked Falcon.

"Huh?" said Meta Knight.

"You said that as if eating is an inconvenience. Do you not need to eat to survive."

"I never said I don't eat," said Meta Knight. "I'm just saying that sometimes an empty stomach can be inconvenient."

"Oh..."

"That isn't important," said Meta Knight. "There should be a civilization in this forest. We can head there to find sustenance."

"Lead the way," said Falcon.

"I don't know where it is..." said Meta Knight.

Falcon merely sweat dropped. "Alright, let's just keep going, then."

With that, they both continued running through the forest, not knowing where they were going. They trekked through the grass and the dirt, hoping that they would see a village nearby. Falcon's stomach was growling louder and louder, which wasn't helping the situation. Meta Knight couldn't hide his annoyance with the sound ("I can't help it, Meta Knight!"). Falcon, wanting to find civilization fast, ran faster until he was ahead of Meta Knight. He was getting considerably farther ahead of him.

"Hey, slow down," called Meta Knight. "Don't abandon me."

"I can't help it," said Falcon, a ways ahead of him, "I need to find food, fast."

Meta Knight suddenly came to a halt, sensing something was amiss. Falcon, however, kept running forward.

"Wait, sto-"

It was too late. Before he could finish his sentence, all he could do was witness Falcon as he was swept into the air, a rope net engulfing him. He hanged there, trapped, slightly swaying from side to side, dangling from a tree branch. Meta Knight charged up to the net, but still felt something was amiss. He quickly drew his sword and spun around, just in time to block a massive sword that swung down upon him. The being that possessed the sword was enormous. Its body was completely obscured my thick, golden armor. Its shoulder pads stretched far to the side, and thick arms protruded from them. Its greaves appeared to me extremely heavy, but most likely not as heavy as the weapons it was wielding. In its left hand was a large, circular golden shield. In its right hand, currently in a clash with Meta Knight, was a massive golden blade, about two and a half times the length of Meta Knight's sword, and looked as if it could hack a tree down with no trouble. Meta Knight was having trouble holding the sword back.

"Look out behind you!" came Falcon's voice from the net.

Meta Knight instinctively dove to the side just before a second, equally massive sword slashed the ground that he once stood upon. There were now two armored beings before him, each of them equally menacing. They both looked about the same, the only difference being that the second one had silver armor, a silver shield, and a silver sword.

"Oi, Meta Knight, get me out of here!" shouted Falcon, struggling to rip the net apart.

"Do not touch him!" rang the deep voice of the gold armored being.

"You don't want to face the wrath of the Duo Darknuts!" said the slightly higher toned silver one.

"Wait, what did we do?!" asked Meta Knight in alarm, still holding his sword in front of him.

"You are accused of attempting to destroy the kingdom of Hyrule!" said the gold Darknut.

"Tell us who sent you!" said the silver Darknut.

"How could we be destroying anything?" asked Falcon. The question was directed more toward Meta Knight than it was the Darknuts. "We just got here."

"Huh?" said the gold Darknut. A look of confusion would be on his face if it could be seen.

"We just got here a few minutes ago," said Falcon, acting surprisingly calm despite the situation.

"You know, now that I think about it, they don't look like them," said the gold one to the silver one.

"Look like who?" asked Meta Knight, slightly lowering his sword.

"Lately, we've discovered some parts of the forest burned down," said the silver one. "We've been trying to catch the culprits."

"What do they look like?" asked Meta Knight. Figuring that they were no longer in danger, he sheathed his sword. The Darknuts, realizing that they made a mistake, also sheathed their swords.

"They're most likely between the height of you two," said the gold one.

"Could we continue this conversation after I've gotten down from here?" said Falcon, still swaying slightly in the suspended net.

"Oh, right, sorry," said the gold one, scratching his head. He walked over to the ground near the net and, with an impressive display of agility and balance, the silver one leaped onto the gold one's shoulders. Now being tall enough, the silver one slashed the net from the tree, and Falcon went crashing to the ground.

Falcon stood up, a cloud of dust surrounding him, and he proceeded to brush himself off. "I suppose that was the only way to do it..." he mumbled.

"Sorry about that," said the silver one as he climbed off the gold one. "Various places have been burnt, and it usually ranges from a single tree to a large circle of trees. We've just had no luck in finding the culprits."

"Oh..." started Meta Knight. "Anyway, you were saying about their appearance..."

"Oh, right," mumbled the silver one. "Well, like my brother said before, they're kind of in between both of your heights, and they wear red clothing."

Meta Knight waited for him to go on, but his silence told him that he was done. "...is that all?" he asked. "That's a very broad description."

"Trust me, there's not a lot that can be said about these guys," said the gold one.

"So, you're going around capturing random people?" asked Meta Knight, thinking them incompetent. "Even if they're not wearing red clothing...?"

"Sorry, we've been desperate to try and catch the culprits," said the gold one, giving a slight bow. "Can you forgive us?"

"I guess we could look past it this time," said Falcon. Suddenly, his stomach started to growl, sounding like a monstrous beast. Falcon quickly clutched the beast. "Ah, crap, I completely forgot."

"Would you like to come with us to our village?" asked the silver one. "We can provide you with provisions."

"It's the least we can do for capturing and falsely accusing you," said the gold one.

"Deal," said Falcon with no hesitation. Meta Knight simply rolled his eyes.

"Okay, then follow us," they both said.

With that, Falcon and Meta Knight followed the Darknuts through the forest. The stroll was primarily the same as before, except they were walking instead of running. Falcon was still clutching his stomach; Meta Knight couldn't help but comment ("Oh, get a grip."). Falcon always found this annoying ("I am getting a grip. I'm gripping my stomach."). Soon, they came to a large, circular clearing. Large, thick wooden stakes formed a fence around the perimeter of the clearing, and in front of them was a large wooden gate that went as high as the stakes. The two Darknuts pushed open the gates, the creaking of the gates loud and obnoxious. They continued past the threshold, Falcon and Meta Knight right behind them. The interior of the gates blew their minds, as it seemed like they walked into a different dimension. The sky was bright in contrast to the dark, dreary forest. There were huts here and there, each being made of either stone or brick. Some of them were round, and some were square, but they were brilliantly built. People were outside, doing various tasks, and looking happy as if this was the best place in the world. Some were greeting the Darknuts with pleasure, while giving weird looks to Falcon and Meta Knight. They couldn't help but feel a bit uncomfortable.

"Welcome," said the gold Darknut, "to the kingdom of Hyrule."

"This place isn't bad," said Falcon, "though not as great as Port Town." He suddenly felt depressed upon saying this.

"Never go into someone else's territory and then insult it," said Meta Knight. "It's proper etiquette."

"...sorry," said Falcon.

"Don't worry about it," said the gold one.

A villager suddenly came up to them, a young girl by the looks of it. "Hello, Auros," she said, addressing the gold Darknut. "Any luck today?"

"No, Beth," said Auros, "Argos and I still can't find the culprits."

"Your names are Auros and Argos?" asked Meta Knight. "It would've been nice of you to give your names before."

"Oh, sorry," said Argos.

"Don't be a hypocrite, Meta Knight," said Falcon. "We never gave them our names. By the way, my name's Captain Falcon, and this is Meta Knight."

"Nice to meet you," said Argos.

"Anyway, you'll find them eventually," said Beth. She quickly departed them.

"Well, we should continue," said Auros. The four of them continued walking through the village. "We're heading for the castle so we can report to the king. You two should come along."

"Very well," said Meta Knight.

They continued to walk through the village. Though it was a nice place, the ground, unfortunately, wasn't very even. There were mild hills and slopes on the way to the castle, and any flat ground was virtually all covered by houses. The extra exercise was not helping Falcon's situation, as he was getting exhausted easily. Eventually, a very tall structure could be seen looming in the background. It wasn't hard to identify it as Hyrule Castle, as its overall design was, well, castle-like. A gate stood in front of the castle, two guards watching over it. The guards wore silver armor, had a sheathed sword on the left side of their waste, and were holding spears in their right hand. They immediately recognized the Darknuts.

"Hello, Auros and Argos," said one of the guards.

"Greetings," said Auros. "These two are with us."

"Very good," said the guard. He and the other guard proceeded to open the gate, and the four walked through towards the castle doors.

Strolling up to the large red double doors, Auros pushed them open, clearing passage into the grand hall. The hall was a large, rectangular room, with many crystal chandeliers hanging from the ceiling, brightening everything. A long red carpet led from the door to the back of the room, where three thrones sat bolted into the ground. In the central throne sat a large, round man. His long, red coat was so long that it drooped past his hands; his blue shirt went well with his brown sash and white pants; his white hair flowed into his beard, and his white mustache seemed to give him more power and charisma; his golden crown was so shiny that it would most likely be the first thing that someone notices about him.

In the rightmost throne sat a dark, physically imposing man. Clad in dark armor and a dark cape, this figure didn't need to do much to strike fear into anyone that so much as glanced at him.

In the leftmost throne sat a beautiful, brown haired girl. Her long, elegant dress cast an alluring light on her.

Auros and Argos walked up the red carpet, stopped before the king sitting in the central throne, and bowed. Meta Knight quickly followed them and bowed, while Falcon just stayed in the back. Meta Knight then motioned for him to come forward and bow, as it was "proper etiquette". Falcon reluctantly came forward and bowed.

"Captain Falcon and Meta Knight," said Argos, turning around to face them, "may I introduce King Daphnes Nohansen Hyrule, the king of this land, Ganondorf, the general of our army, and the lovely Princess Zelda." All three of them stood up to bow.

"My king, we have come to report," said Auros.

"Did you find anything?" asked Daphnes.

"I'm sorry, we had no luck today. The trap we set accidentally caught this one," said Auros, pointing at Falcon. "The culprits are very adept at hiding."

"I see," said Daphnes. "You didn't see anything suspicious in the forest?"

"No, sir," said Argos. "We found absolutely nothing."

"My king, perhaps these red-clothed culprits are nothing but a small organized gang," said Ganondorf. "It could just be a bunch of kids playing practical jokes."

"Even so, we can't look past this," said Daphnes. "It's vandalism, and they must be arrested."

Just then, a soldier barged right into the room via the front doors. He looked like he was mauled, as his armor was torn, and there were bruise marks across his body. He seemed very edgy.

"S-sir!" shouted the soldier.

"What is it? What happened?" asked Ganondorf.

"W-we were a-attacked by a ptero-" He suddenly collapsed, dead. Meta Knight stared at the soldier, a look of terror in his eyes.

"His group was attacked?!" exclaim Daphnes.

Zelda placed her hands over her mouth in fear. "Wasn't Link with them?!"

"Crap!" shouted Ganondorf. He got off of his throne and headed towards the front door.

"Where are you going?" asked Auros.

"I'm going to find the assailant," replied Ganondorf.

"At least allow Argos and me to come with you."

"I'd like to join this venture as well," said Meta Knight. "I may have an idea about who did it. Falcon, join us."

"But, but-"

"No buts," said Meta Knight, sounding like a stern parent. "You're coming."

"Oh, fine," grumbled Falcon. _I'm still hungry!_ he thought.

"I'm going, too," said Zelda, standing up.

"What?! Absolutely not!" said Daphnes.

"But my fiancé's in danger! I can't leave him!" said Zelda.

"Don't worry, my princess," said Argos, giving a slight bow, "we will find him."

"Leave it to them," said Daphnes.

Zelda, reluctantly accepting this, sat back down.

"Okay, come on, hurry!" said Ganondorf.

Ganondorf, Auros, Argos, Falcon, and Meta Knight hurried out of the castle and headed for the front gates of the village. Ganondorf said that Link's team was searching west of the village, so they turned left at the front gates and headed into the forest. On their way, they saw various trees that were completely charred, with slight burn marks upon others. Large, bright patches of light hitting the ground told them that trees used to be there, no longer able to block the sunlight. They kept walking until they came upon a circular clearing; it was easy to tell that many trees used to be here, as there were black marks on the ground, as well as the smell of burnt wood. Link and a few soldiers were lying in the center of the clearing, motionless. Auros and Argos quickly approached Link and felt his neck: he wasn't dead, only unconscious, however, there was no hope for the other soldiers.

"I think I know who the culprits are," said Meta Knight, looking around.

"Really?" said Falcon. Everyone else now had their eyes on Meta Knight, waiting for him to go on.

"Yes," he said firmly. "The culprits wear red clothing and use fire. On top of that, the soldier said that he was attacked by a 'ptero' before he died. He could've wanted to say 'pterodactyl'."

"Interesting," said Ganondorf. "And who are these people?"

Before Meta Knight could respond, they suddenly heard the sound of shuffling feet all around them. They looked around, finding themselves completely surrounded by what appeared to be the red-clothed culprits. They were forming a wall around the perimeter of the clearing, preventing any escape. They may have had red clothing, but their shape was so recognizable that it took all but a second for Meta Knight to realize they had been surrounded by-

"Fire Primids," said Meta Knight. "This isn't good."

"They look similar to the guys at Port Town," said Falcon.

"These are the culprits?" asked Auros, grasping his sword.

"Most likely," said Meta Knight, also reaching for his sword. "Although I'm more concerned about where their leader is-"

Before he could finish, a loud, earsplitting roar was heard, and a massive purple beast swooped down into the circle. Its wings were spread afar, and its spaded tail was held high in the air behind it. Its claws and teeth looked like they could shred a human with no effort, and its pupil-less gaze seemed like it could pierce their souls. With a somewhat high pitched, shrieky voice, the beast spoke.

"Hello, Meta Knight," it said calmly.

"Ridley!" said Meta Knight.

* * *

There you have it. Chapter 3 finished. Just so you know, all the Zelda characters have their Twilight Princess design, meaning Zelda is brown haired, not blonde. Also, Daphnes Nohansen Hyrule was the controller and voice of the King of Red Lions from Wind Waker. Though he's from Wind Waker, try to picture him with a more "Twilight Princess" look. Read and review. I wanna know what you, the readers, think of this story so far. Feel free to comment on my writng style and plot pacing.


	4. A Flaw in the Plan

Well, I'm back. Did anyone else have trouble logging in due to a technical glitch? I wasn't able to log in for 4 days, but I'm glad that it's now fixed. This chapter was supposed to be uploaded yesterday, but the glitch prevented that. Now that it's fixed, let the story continue.

* * *

**A Flaw in the Plan**

Falcon, Meta Knight, Auros, Argos, and Ganondorf were standing in the middle of a forest clearing, completely surrounded by Fire Primids. Link was lying on the ground, unconscious, in front of them, and the massive beast, Ridley, was standing before them. Auros, Argos, and Ganondorf were looking at him with anger; Meta Knight with horror; Falcon with confusion.

"What are you doing here?!" asked Meta Knight, trembling slightly.

"Why, looking for _The Fires of Yellow Flight,_ of course," said Ridley in his shrieky voice, chuckling a little as he spoke. "I can't find it anywhere, so I figured I might as well take out my anger on this forest."

"You bastard!" said Ganondorf, clenching his fist. "You shall pay!"

"Go ahead, try it," said Ridley, his wings flapping a little. He quickly took off into the air, hovering over them. "Take care of them!"

The Fire Primids advanced toward them, and they quickly stood back-to-back in a circle. Meta Knight, Auros, and Argos had their swords out, while Falcon and Ganondorf prepared their fists. Auros and Argos quickly charged at the Primids in front of them, swinging their swords. They managed to kill two of them; they did not bleed, but merely fell to the ground, motionless. Meta Knight, with blinding speed, hacked away at a few of them. Falcon charged up to one of the them and kneed it right in the face. Some sparks shot out of his knee, and the Primid went flying back into a tree, dead. Ganondorf powered up his fist, completely covering it in purple flames. He dashed from one Primid to the next, bashing their heads in with his fist. He was swift at dealing them; he wasn't the general of the army for nothing. Within moments, all of the Fire Primids were defeated. With that, Ridley landed in the circle again, not looking surprised.

"Ahh, I didn't expect them to be a challenge," he said. "Now let's see how you fare against me!"

He quickly shot a large fireball right at the group. They all dodged to the side, and the fireball smacked right into the already burnt ground.

"No!" shouted Ganondorf. "This thing can breathe fire! We have to stop it from burning down the forest!"

Ridley lunged staight at Auros and Argos, his claws in front of him, and he slashed them right across the chest. Luckily, their armor was so thick that it didn't hurt them, but there was now a scratch across it. After that failed, he shot his tail forward at Meta Knight, which he quickly dodged. The tail plunged staight into the ground, and Ridley started struggling to free it.

"Take this, you overgrown beast!" shouted Falcon.

His fist was now completely engulfed in an orange flame. He charged toward Ridley, then took a mighty leap up to his chest. He brought his flaming fist back, and with a mighty roar, he yelled, "FALCON PUNCH!!" The flames took the shape of a mighty falcon as he plunged his fist right into Ridley's chest. The beast let out a great shriek as he plummeted to the ground, twitching a little before going completely motionless.

"Yeah, and that was on an empty stomach," said Falcon.

"Hmph, so you can manage something in that state," said Meta Knight.

"Oh, shut up," said Falcon.

"We'll bring this beast back as a captive," said Ganondorf. "We'll lock it in a cage and then question it when it awakes."

"Are you sure that'll work?" asked Meta Knight. "Ridley is not one to be underestimated."

"You let me handle that," said Ganondorf, smirking. "Now help me get his tail out of the ground."

The five of them tugged hard on Ridley's tail before it finally sprang out of the charred ground. Ganondorf, Falcon, and Auros all had to work together and overexert themselves just to pick up Ridley, and then they had to carry him across the forest. While that was happening, Argos grabbed Link's unconscious body and carried him on his back. Meta Knight, being too short, couldn't really help, so he volunteered to walk in front in case anything attacked them. They trudged through the forest, which took longer than usual due to Ridley's heavy body. After about a half hour of walking, they finally came to the front gates of the village. Meta Knight pushed them open and entered, followed by the others. As they walked towards the castle, the villagers simply stared at them. Some thought that the great beast they were carrying was for food, some thought it was a trophy to symbolize their great strength, some thought it was some sort of offering to the king, and all were happy when they spotted Argos carrying Link. As they got to the castle gates, the guards, wanting to question where the beast came from, decided it was best not to ask, so they just let them through. They entered the castle, Daphnes and Zelda standing up upon their entrance, and deposited Ridley right in the middle of the floor.

"Sir, we've found Link and the culprit," said Ganondorf, bowing.

"Honey?!" screamed Zelda, running up to Argos and Link. "Is he okay?"

"He's alive, just unconscious," said Argos. "We have to treat him immediately, though."

"Understood," said Daphnes. "Take him to the infirmary."

Argos walked into a doorway on the left side of the hall and disappeared, Zelda following right behind him.

Daphnes stepped off of his throne and approached the unconscious Ridley. "This beast is the culprit?"

"Yes, sir," said Ganondorf. "It seems he and a group of minions were burning down the forest. We were able to eliminate the minions and capture him."

"What is your plan of action?" asked Daphnes.

"We lock him up and question him when he wakes up," he said. "He said some strange things when we encountered him, and I want to find out what his goal is."

"Very well," said Daphnes. "Take him to the dungeon."

Ganondorf, instead of lifting up Ridley, dragged his body across the floor to a doorway on the right side of the hall; he was much easier to drag than to carry, and Ganondorf wanted to bruise his body as much as possible. Daphnes walked to the middle of the hall where Ridley's body used to be.

"Such a large beast. Who was able to bring that thing down?"

"It was Captain Falcon," said Auros. "It was a single punch to the chest."

"It was nothing," said Falcon. "It was easy."

"How can we repay you for bringing down that beast?" asked Daphnes.

As if it had ears, Falcon's stomach grumbled on the spot. Daphnes gave a big smile.

"No problem," he said. "Auros, show him to the kitchen."

"Yes, sir," he said, bowing. "Follow me, Falcon."

Auros, Falcon, and Meta Knight deposited through a second doorway on the left side of the hall. The path was somewhat small and dark, but soon they entered a large dining hall. The floor was completely made of wood, and the dining table seemed to stretch for miles across the room. The table was covered in a white tablecloth embedded with jewels, with many candles upon its surface, none of them lit. Dozens of chairs lined the table, and a wider, grander chair at the end told Falcon and Meta Knight that the king sat there.

"You may sit down at the table," said Auros. "I will tell the chefs to prepare something."

"Thank you," said Falcon, giving his signature pose.

Falcon and Meta Knight took their seats across from each other at the center of the table. Auros went through a door at the other end of the room, which apparently led to the kitchen.

Falcon kept giving Meta Knight an anxious look, and he knew exactly what was on Falcon's mind.

"Now is not the time to explain," said Meta Knight.

Falcon, all too used to this answer, simply said, "When will the proper time come along?"

"When Ridley wakes up," said Meta Knight. "All of your questions should be answered when we interrogate him."

"One last question," said Falcon, "What's with that nickname that that robot gave me?"

"You are referring to when Duon called you _The Bird of Yellow Warmth?"_ asked Meta Knight.

"Yeah."

"All will be explained when we interrogate Ridley."

"Alright, fine," said Falcon, pouting. Meta Knight simply sighed.

Argos and Zelda were down in the infirmary. Argos had just deposited Link on one of the beds, and a nurse quickly tended to him.

"I'm sorry, my lady," said Argos.

"Our wedding was going to be tomorrow," said Zelda, tears rolling down her eyes. "That beast will pay!"

Despite the princess' sweet nature, she was the wrong person to upset, and Argos couldn't help but feel a little intimidated.

"I'm sure he'll be fine," said Argos. "He's a strong warrior, so he should recover quickly."

"Thank you, Argos," said Zelda.

"Of course, princess," said Argos, taking a bow. He quickly excused himself from her presence and left the infirmary.

It was now an hour after everyone had returned to the castle, and everyone was gathered in the grand hall, save for Ganondorf. Falcon was sitting in the corner, a stupid grin on his face; he was quite satisfied with the food. Meta Knight was standing next to him, his eyes closed. Auros and Argos were standing in the middle of the hall, conversing with each other about the recent events. Daphnes and Zelda were sitting in their respective thrones. Just then, Ganondorf had finally come back from the dungeon.

"Sir, the beast has woken," he said.

"Fantastic," said Daphnes. "Let's go pay him a visit. Auros and Argos, you stay here and keep watch."

"Yes sir," they both said.

Everyone, except Auros and Argos, deposited into the doorway on the right side of the room into a long, one way hall. At the end of the hall was a wooden door. Ganondorf opened the door, leading everyone down a dark, ominous looking spiral staircase. The staircase and the walls were dank in contrast with the splendor of the grand hall. It was clear that anyone locked in here was not meant to have a pleasant experience. When they reached the bottom of the stairs and entered the dungeon, Falcon and Meta Knight noticed the rotted, green bricks that made up the floors and walls, as well as the lack of natural light. There were candles hanging off the walls that provided a low, haunted glow for the room. On the left side of the room were three jail cells, the one at the very end containing Ridley, who looked surprisingly calm despite his situation. When they reached his cage, Ganondorf was the first to break the silence.

"Okay, you overgrown beast," he said.

"It's Ridley," he said calmly.

"...Ridley," said Ganondorf, annoyed at having to refer to him by name, "why are you here and what is your purpose?"

"You think I'll tell you anything?" he said.

"Don't act so tough!" shouted Ganondorf. "I'll have you know that we can kill you right now!"

"Go ahead," said Ridley, "You'll never learn anything if you do."

"Shut up!" shouted Zelda. With anger in her eyes, she shot a glowing, pulsating fireball right at Ridley's chest, exploding on contact. Ridley shrieked and fell over backwards. "That's for hurting Link!"

Daphnes shoved his hand in front of Zelda. "That's enough. You must calm down."

Zelda felt herself relax on the spot. "I'm sorry, daddy."

Ridley stood back up, cackling as he did. "The girl's got some spunk. She's much better than that pathetic Link!"

"Hold your tongue!" shouted Ganondorf. "Keep spouting nonsense, and I won't hesitate to use force."

"What are you gonna do, come in here?" asked Ridley. "I'd kill you in an instant, and then I'll escape and kill you all."

Ganondorf cursed under his breath.

"You have nothing to threaten me with," said Ridley.

"I took you down once, and I can do it again," said Falcon, pounding his palm.

"Of course you can," said Ridley, "if my tail gets stuck again."

Meta Knight, having enough of the nonsense, decided to come forward. "Ridley, you are looking for _The Fires of Yellow Flight_, correct?"

"That's right. Of course you'd know about it, right, Meta Knight?"

"You said you couldn't find it, so why did you stay here?" asked Meta Knight.

"I told you, I wanted to take my anger out on this forest," said Ridley.

"Bull!!" shouted Meta Knight, anger in his eyes. "You know how important finding _The Fires of Yellow Flight_ is, so if you couldn't find it here, you would have moved on. You must have some reason to stay here."

"That's not something for you to know," said Ridley.

"What the hell are you two talking about?" asked Falcon. "Meta Knight, you told me that all of my questions would be answered, yet now I'm even more confused."

"I suppose now is the time to explain everything," said Meta Knight. "You see, Ridley is part-"

All of a sudden, Auros came charging down the spiral staircase into the dungeon. "King Daphnes, General Ganondorf!"

Everyone turned to face him, startled by his appearance.

"Ridley is still here?" asked Auros. "Impossible!"

"What happened?" asked Daphnes.

"Sir, the village is under attack!" said Auros, panic in his voice.

"What?!" said Daphnes.

"Yes!" said Auros. "Argos and I stepped outside the castle to see how the village was doing, and there were people being attacked by these metal things! People were dying, and houses were being burned down!"

Ganondorf clenched his fist and gave an evil look at Ridley. "Who are the attackers?" he asked Auros.

"They look similar to those fire guys from the forest, except they're completely covered in metal," said Auros. "And on top of that, they're being led by Ridley!"

"What?!" said Daphnes. "But Ridley is right here!"

Ridley simply cackled upon hearing this news. He couldn't keep the arrogant smile off of his face. "I see, so he's come for me."

"Who has?!" asked Ganondorf.

"So you thought that capturing me would mean no more attacks?" said Ridley, cackling. "You were heavily mistaken. My capture was simply a decoy for the real plan! Right now, my counterpart is burning your village to the ground!" With that, Ridley used his great claws to slash apart the bars of the cell. "Did you really think that this rundown prison could hold me?!" He spread his wings and flew right up the stairs leading to the grand hall, cackling while he did.

"Damn! After him!" shouted Ganondorf.

The six of them quickly sprinted up the spiral staircase into the grand hall. They pushed open the red double doors and were horrified at the sight. The two front gate guards were lying there, dead, and the rest of the village was in chaos. They could see houses ablaze, people running from the metal attackers, and various dead bodies lying around. Argos and various other guards were in the fray, running around and hacking at various enemies with their weapons. Auros quickly charged in and helped his brother out in staving off the attack, leaving Falcon, Meta Knight, Ganondorf, Daphnes, and Zelda standing at the castle doors.

"We have to stop them!" said Ganondorf. "Come on!"

"Stay right there!" shouted Ridley. They looked around for him, but they didn't see him. He swooped down right in front of them, his counterpart landing right next to him. He looked very much like Ridley, but he had many cybernetic enhancements. His body was silver and metallic, giving him a more skeletal appearance compared to Ridley. He had the same piercing, pupil-less gaze, and his claws and teeth were just as sharp as Ridley's. They both cackled obnoxiously before Ridley spoke once more. "Allow me to introduce my clone, Meta Ridley."

"This is very bad," said Meta Knight.

"And I'm still confused!" said Falcon.

* * *

A second Ridley?! How will our heroes deal with the situation now? You'll find out soon enough. For now, read and review!


	5. Unified

Land Father is back with the new chapter. I hope all of you are enjoying this story. Let me know what you think of this chapter.

* * *

**Unified**

Falcon, Meta Knight, Daphnes, Ganondorf, and Zelda were standing at the entrance to the castle, their path obstructed by the gargantuan beasts in front of them. The village was being attacked by Metal Primids, led by Meta Ridley. The people were being attacked, and the village was being burned. The guards, including Auros and Argos, were doing their best to combat the foes, but there were simply too many.

"Your clone, Meta Ridley?" said Meta Knight, terror in his voice.

Ridley simply cackled. "That's right. I was cloned so we could have another warrior to further our cause."

"Hello, Meta Knight," spoke Meta Ridley in almost the same voice as Ridley, "or should I call you _The Knight of Yellow Darkness?"_

"What are these nicknames that they keep giving us?" asked Falcon.

"Do you really think now is the time to explain?!" asked Meta Knight.

Falcon, though tired of hearing that excuse, could only agree that now was not the best time for an explanation. "Fine, then let's take care of these guys!" With that, he quickly jumped right at Meta Ridley's face, ready to knee him. Before he could, he was swiftly swatted away by Meta Ridley's tail, knocking him into the front doors of the castle.

"Don't do anything rash, Falcon!" shouted Meta Knight. "They are not your average warriors."

Falcon, standing back up, clutched his back in pain. "I'll remember that next time."

"My king, retreat into the castle!" said Ganondorf. "Zelda, protect him!"

Daphnes and Zelda ran back into the castle, closing the red double doors behind them. Falcon, Meta Knight, and Ganondorf took a battle pose, ready to engage the pterodactyls.

"Enough of this crap!" shouted Ridley. "We can't dawdle here!"

"Let's kill 'em!" said Meta Ridley in a bloodthirsty voice.

"We can only kill that one," said Ridley, pointing at Ganondorf. "The other two are to remain alive. You know this as well as I do."

"I can understand sparing Meta Knight," said Meta Ridley, "but why do we have to spare this guy?" He pointed at Falcon.

"Duon has confirmed him as _The Bird of Yellow Warmth_," said Ridley.

"Ah, I see," said Meta Ridley.

While they were talking, they didn't notice Ganondorf's fury rising, nor did they notice his fist becoming engulfed in violent, purple flames. Ganondorf jumped right up to Ridley's face and punched him with his flaming fist, sending the beast screaming and lying still on the ground.

"Ah, Ridley!" screamed Meta Ridley, quickly slashing Ganondorf in the chest with his claws. Ganondorf fell to the ground, blood now coming out of his chest and mouth.

Falcon, taking advantage of Meta Ridley's distraction, jumped up and kneed him in the chest. Falcon could feel his knee cry out in pain as it struck the metal exoskeleton, but it was enough to temporarily incapacitate the beast. "These guys aren't so tough."

"We just caught them off guard," said Meta Knight. "Quickly, while they're down, let's help the villagers!"

The three of them charged beyond the castle gates and into the main part of the village, where the Metal Primids were assaulting the villagers. Ganondorf, though bleeding, was tough enough to keep himself going. They spotted Auros and Argos hacking away at various Primids with their massive swords, and other guards were doing the same, though it was harder for them as their swords weren't nearly as powerful. Meta Knight took out his sword and swung it at a Metal Primid that was harrassing a young man. His sword was simply bouncing off of the Primid's hard skin, not even making any scratch marks. The Primid didn't even acknowledge Meta Knight's attack, as it just kept kicking the young man.

"Let me take care of this!" shouted Falcon. He ran up to the Primid that Meta Knight was attacking. With flames surrounding his fist, he shouted, "Falcon Punch!!", and launched it right at the Primid's head. It's head melted instantly, and its body fell to the ground with a thump. Falcon stood there, looking triumphant, giving his signature pose. "Show me ya moves!" The young man, finally free, stood up, thanked Falcon, and ran for his life.

"Fire, huh?" thought Meta Knight. "Looks like I am no help, here."

"Cheer up, man," said Falcon, patting Meta Knight on the back. "You leave this to me and the others. You go into the castle and help guard the king incase those beasts wake up."

Meta Knight, accepting this, retreated back to the castle. He flew past the motionless bodies of the Ridleys and entered the castle, where he found Daphnes and Zelda at the back of the grand hall.

"They'll take of everything outside," said Meta Knight. "I'll stay here and guard you from Ridley and Meta Ridley."

"Is everything alright out there?" asked a worried Daphnes.

"I can't say for sure," said Meta Knight. "All I can say is that things could be much worse."

"Things could be worse than this?!" said Zelda.

"Though some houses have burned and some people have died, it is only minor compared to what could've happened."

"How can you sound so indifferent about this?!" shouted Zelda. "Our home is under attack, and you call it nothing?!"

"I did not say it was nothing!" shouted Meta Knight, losing his cool. "I'm just saying that we are lucky that this is the only thing that happened! Those two could have easily destroyed this entire forest by themselves, yet they are only causing minor damage." He noticed that Zelda was about to yell at him again, so he quickly continued. "All I'm saying is that they must have a reason for not completely annihilating this place. They must be looking for something."

"What could they possibly be looking for?" asked Daphnes.

"I'm not sure. Our main problem is Ridley and Meta Ridley. The others should be able to defeat the enemies outside with no trouble."

"So the village will be saved?" asked Daphnes, sounding somewhat relieved.

"People have lost their lives, but I don't think any more will," said Meta Knight.

"That's at least good to hear," said Daphnes.

"Will Link be oka- look out!" said Zelda.

Instinctively, Meta Knight turned around and drew his sword just in time to stop Ridley's claws from digging into his face. He was holding them just a few inches from his face.

"You filthy little rat!" shouted a furious Ridley.

"Ridley, wait!" called Meta Ridley from behind. "Don't kill him. We need him alive."

"You're lucky, Meta Knight," said Ridley. "Otherwise you would've been dead long ago."

"Am I that much of a hindrance to your plans?" asked Meta Knight in a cheeky tone.

"Shut up!" yelled Ridley, fire in his pupil-less eyes.

"Hey, Ridley, find your own pray," said Meta Ridley. "You know that I was assigned to capture _The Knight of Yellow Darkness_. Go find your own target."

"But I can't find _The Fires of Yellow Flight_," said Ridley. "I at least want to torture this one."

"No, Ridley," said Meta Knight. "We need him in good condition."

Ridley reluctantly withdrew his claws from the stalemate with Meta Knight's sword. Anger brewing in his eyes, he turned his gaze towards Daphnes and Zelda. "However, _they_ are not important. I can roast them to appease my rage!"

"What?! NO!" shouted Meta Knight. He was about to swing his sword at Ridley, but before he could, Meta Ridley tackled him out of the way.

Ridley, now having a clear shot of the two helpless royalties, charged up a fireball in his mouth. His mouth glowed bright yellow as he spread it wide open and unleashed a massive fireball at Daphnes and Zelda. They simply cringed in fear as the fireball headed straight for them. They felt the heat of the ball as it got closer and closer, but then they suddenly felt a cool breeze spread across the room. From the left side of the grand hall, where the infirmary lies, came a miniature tornado that swept across the hall. It intercepted the fireball, carrying it around the room until it slammed into a wall. The tornado, having gotten rid of the fireball, returned to the left side of the hall, where it quickly disappeared, being replaced by a spinning piece of wood. The wood landed in the hands of a young man wearing a green tunic. His face was fierce and his gaze could rival Ridley's own.

"Link!" shouted Zelda, charging over to him and embracing him in a hug. "Are you okay?"

"...I'm fine," he said quietly. He stepped away from her and advanced towards Ridley.

"You're that fool that I defeated at the forest," said Ridley. "So you're still alive?"

"Of course I am," said Link. "But you won't be!" He leaped right at Ridley, drew his sword, and attempted to slash his chest. Ridley, however, was able to dodge in time, taking to the air. Meta Ridley let go of Meta Knight and took to the air as well.

"You think you can defeat us?" cackled Ridley. "You couldn't do it before, even though you had a lot of troops with you, and look at you now, still injured. What a fool!"

"Be quiet!" shouted Zelda. "You will pay!"

Link took out his bow and loaded it with an arrow, aiming it at Ridley. Zelda used her power to set the arrow ablaze, and Link shot it towards Ridley's chest. Meta Ridley flew in front of him, taking the arrow full force; his heavy armor proved to be too much for the arrow, which plopped to the ground, the fire going out.

"Such useless tools," said Meta Ridley. "You cannot defeat us Ridleys!"

Both Ridleys, side-by-side, began charging up another fireball. Their mouths glowed yellow as they focused their power. Just before Ridley was about to shoot his, he felt a heavy weight on top of his head, and his jaw was shut tight by the weight, causing the fireball to explode right in his mouth. He shrieked loudly as the inside of his mouth burned. Meta Ridley, worried about what happened, turned his gaze toward Ridley and accidentally unleashed his fireball right at his face. Ridley was hit by the fireball at point blank range, the side of his face burned. The weight on top of his head jumped down to the ground; Meta Ridley turned around, realizing that it was Falcon that stomped on Ridley's head.

"Show me ya moves!" he shouted, giving his signature pose.

"Why, you little-!" shouted Meta Ridley. He dove right at Falcon, but before he could do anything, a purple, flaming fist collided with his face, sending him slamming into Ridley, both of them then hitting the wall with a fierce impact. They rolled down the wall and plopped to the ground, a massive dent now on the wall.

Ganondorf stood next to Falcon. "You shall harm no more!" he said.

The Ridleys stood up, feeling a little woozy, and looked around the room. Near the thrones, Daphnes, Link, and Zelda stood; Link was brandishing his sword and shield, and Zelda had her hands up, seemingly to cast a magic spell. In the middle of the room stood Meta Knight, Falcon, and Ganondorf. At the red double doors now stood Auros and Argos.

"What's going on?" asked Ridley. "Shouldn't you be outside dealing with our forces?"

"They weren't so tough," said Auros.

"The village is now safe," said Argos.

Ridley and Meta Ridley glanced at each other, trying to figure out what to do.

"You two have lost," said Ganondorf.

"Crap!" said Ridley. "Let's get out of here."

"Right," replied Meta Ridley.

They spread their wings and took off into the air, flying through the double doors and into the sky.

"Crud, they got away," said Auros.

"I don't think you have to worry about them," said Meta Knight. "If they've learned their lesson, then they'll know not to go up against the unified forces of Hyrule again."

"We cannot worry about them anymore," said Daphnes. "We have to help all of the wounded."

"Yes sir!" said Ganondorf, Auros, and Argos.

The eight of them headed out of the castle and into the village. They split up, one group helping the wounded, while the other group puts out the fires. People were brought into the castle to the infirmary, where nurses attended to them. Water was carried to the burning houses, where they were quickly deposited on the fire. Anyone that wasn't wounded helped with the tasks, and the pace was quickened as more and more people contributed. It showed how everyone loved their home, and that they would do anything to keep it out of harm's way. Should any more unnecessary troubles show up, the villages and the royalties will be there to take care of it.

After a few hours of hospitalizing people and putting out fires, the village started to become hospitable once more. Though there were burnt pieces of ground where houses once stood, it wasn't beyond repair, as new houses could easily replace the old ones. Some people had died, but there weren't too many casualties. It was decided that a memorial service would be held later in the day.

It was well into the night when they were finished. Falcon and Meta Knight were standing in the grand hall along with the other six.

"What shall you two be doing?" asked Daphnes.

"I'm tired, Meta Knight," said Falcon with a yawn.

"I suppose that we could stay here for the night," said Meta Knight. "We have been running on almost two days of no sleep."

"That's perfectly fine," said Daphnes, sounding a little cheerful at the gesture.

"We were going to have Link and Zelda's wedding tomorrow," said Auros, "but because of these events, it was pushed back a few days. Won't you stay until then?"

"Well, I suppose-," started Falcon.

"No!" interrupted Meta Knight.

"Why not?" asked Falcon.

"Yeah, why not?" asked Auros and Argos.

"Because he and I are personal targets of Ridley and Meta Ridley. It would be dangerous if we stayed here longer than necessary. We will depart tomorrow morning."

"Aw, man," pouted Falcon, crossing his arms. "You're no fun."

"Whatever," said Meta Knight, rolling his eyes.

"Thank you two for your help," said Zelda, giving them a slight bow.

"It was our pleasure," said Meta Knight.

"You two may stay in the castle tonight," said Daphnes. "Auros, show them to the guest rooms."

"Yes, sir," said Auros, bowing. "Come with me."

Falcon and Meta Knight followed Auros to a second hallway on the right side of the hall. In the middle of the hallway were a set of stairs that led upwards. They walked up the stairs and made a left at the top, entering a similar-looking hallway. There were a few wooden doors on the wall, and Auros stopped at the second door on the left.

"This is your room for tonight. It's nothing spectacular, but it should suffice."

Falcon pushed open the door, leading into a room that was true to its name: a guest room. There was nothing grand, but nothing poor, about it; it was just average. The floors were made of wood, the walls were white with no decorations, and the beds were typical. The room itself wasn't that big, either.

"Thank you very much," said Meta Knight. He and Falcon entered the room, and Auros closed the door and departed.

Falcon was looking around the room. "Is this it?"

"What did you expect?" asked Meta Knight.

"Something a little more... luxurios," he said. "The rest of the castle is amazing, but this is rundown by comparison."

"I don't think 'rundown' is the right word," said Meta Knight. "I'd say 'average'."

"I suppose," said Falcon. "I guess it doesn't matter, anyway. We are only staying here for one night."

"Right, so let's get some sleep," said Meta Knight.

They both sat on their own bed, and the moment they did, they were out like a light.

The morning sun shown itself hours later, but the guest room had no windows, so Falcon and Meta Knight wouldn't know. Auros made his way up the stairs toward their room and knocked on the door. Auros stood there for a while, and when he received no answer, he decided to open the door. What he saw made him sweatdrop. Falcon was lying spread-eagled on the bed, his mouth wide open, and snoring loudly. Meta Knight was lying on his face, breathing into the bed, his cape looking like a blanket. Auros wanted to smack them really hard, but he deemed that as rude, and simply shook both of their shoulders. Their hands automatically pushed his arms away, but Auros kept shaking their shoulders.

Falcon shot upwards, his eyes snapping open. He saw Auros standing next to him, his hand on his shoulder. Meta Knight flipped over and stood up, his height not even reaching Auros' head.

"Sorry, but I came to wake you," said Auros.

"I can see that," said Falcon, yawning and stretching. "Is it morning already?"

"Yes it is," said Auros. "We wanted you to have breakfast before you left."

"Sounds good to me," said Falcon, smiling.

"I suppose the only way to please you is through your stomach," said Meta Knight.

Falcon shot him an evil glare. Auros, sighing, simply told them to come with him down to the dining hall. They walked down the stairs, into the grand hall, and into the dining hall, where Daphnes, Link, Zelda, Ganondorf, Argos, and some other soldiers were seated; Daphnes was sitting in his large, grand chair. After breakfast and some pleasant conversation, Meta Knight decided it was time for he and Falcon to leave. Daphnes, Auros, and Argos escorted them to the double doors.

"Thank you very much for helping us," said Auros, bowing to them.

"We shall never forget your deeds," said Argos, bowing.

"This village is your home," said Daphnes. "Come back here anytime you'd like." He gave them a bow as well.

"Thank you very much," said Meta Knight, bowing to them.

"The food was great," said Falcon, bowing. Meta Knight sighed at the comment.

"Have a safe trip," said Daphnes.

As they waved goodbye, Falcon and Meta Knight departed from the castle, walked through the village, and disappeared past the village gates, continuing their dangerous journey.

* * *

They've finally left the forest and moved on. By the way, I know that all of you are probably confused as to what's going on, but don't worry about it. The next chapter will explain everything that's happened so far. For now, though, read and review.


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